The Player of Games

The Player of Games The Culture a humanoid machine symbiotic society has thrown up many great Game Players One of the best is Jernau Morat Gurgeh Player of Games master of every board computer and strategy Bored with

Title: The Player of Games

Author: Iain M. Banks

ISBN: 9781857231465

Page: 337

Format: Paperback

The Culture a humanoid machine symbiotic society has thrown up many great Game Players One of the best is Jernau Morat Gurgeh, Player of Games, master of every board, computer and strategy Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game, a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomesThe Culture a humanoid machine symbiotic society has thrown up many great Game Players One of the best is Jernau Morat Gurgeh, Player of Games, master of every board, computer and strategy Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game, a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game and with it the challenge of his life, and very possibly his death.

THE PLAYERS Championship Official Site The new PLAYERS Championship trophy for was made by Tiffany and Company with the ethos of celebrating the past champions of the event and the iconic th hole at TPC Sawgrass. The Player Official Site From the executive producers of The Blacklist comes the action packed Las Vegas set thriller The Player. The Player TV Series Sep , A former intelligence and FBI officer, who now works as a security expert in Las Vegas, is recruited by mysterious pit boss Mr Johnson to, based on his tips, try to prevent crimes, while the rich place bets on his chances of success. The Player May , Directed by Robert Altman With Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Whoopi Goldberg A Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a The Player film The Player film The Player is a American satirical black comedy film directed by Robert Altman and written by Michael Tolkin, based on his own novel of the same name The film stars Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Whoopi Goldberg, Peter Gallagher, Brion James, Cynthia Stevenson and is the story The Player TV series The Player TV series The Player formerly known as Endgame is an American action television series created by John Rogers and John Fox, starring Philip Winchester, Wesley Snipes and Charity Wakefield NBC ordered the pilot to series on May , , and the show aired from September , to November , for one season. The Player Korean Drama AsianWiki The Players Tribune The Voice of the Game The Players Tribune is a new media company that provides athletes with a platform to connect directly with their fans, in their own words Founded by Derek Jeter, The Players Tribune publishes first person articles from athletes, providing unique insight into the daily sports conversation. Player band Player band Player is an American rock band that made their mark during the late s The group scored several US Hot hits, three of which went into the Top two of those single releases went Top , including the No hit Baby Come Back , written by THE PLAYERS Championship History Since its start in , with Jack Nicklaus historic victory over J.C Snead, THE PLAYERS Championship has been one of the PGA TOUR s most coveted titles After winning the inaugural event, Nicklaus would go on to win the title every other year until .

About "Iain M. Banks"

Iain M. Banks

Iain M Banks is a pseudonym of Iain Banks which he used to publish his Science Fiction.Banks s father was an officer in the Admiralty and his mother was once a professional ice skater Iain Banks was educated at the University of Stirling where he studied English Literature, Philosophy and Psychology He moved to London and lived in the south of England until 1988 when he returned to Scotland, living in Edinburgh and then Fife.Banks met his wife Annie in London, before the release of his first book They married in Hawaii in 1992 However, he announced in early 2007 that, after 25 years together, they had separated He lived most recently in North Queensferry, a town on the north side of the Firth of Forth near the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge.As with his friend Ken MacLeod another Scottish writer of technical and social science fiction a strong awareness of left wing history shows in his writings The argument that an economy of abundance renders anarchy and adhocracy viable or even inevitable attracts many as an interesting potential experiment, were it ever to become testable He was a signatory to the Declaration of Calton Hill, which calls for Scottish independence.In late 2004, Banks was a prominent member of a group of British politicians and media figures who campaigned to have Prime Minister Tony Blair impeached following the 2003 invasion of Iraq In protest he cut up his passport and posted it to 10 Downing Street In an interview in Socialist Review he claimed he did this after he abandoned the idea of crashing my Land Rover through the gates of Fife dockyard, after spotting the guys armed with machine guns He related his concerns about the invasion of Iraq in his book Raw Spirit, and the principal protagonist Alban McGill in the novel The Steep Approach to Garbadale confronts another character with arguments in a similar vein.Interviewed on Mark Lawson s BBC Four series, first broadcast in the UK on 14 November 2006, Banks explained why his novels are published under two different names His parents wished to name him Iain Menzies Banks but his father made a mistake when registering the birth and he was officially registered as Iain Banks Despite this he continued to use his unofficial middle name and it was as Iain M Banks that he submitted The Wasp Factory for publication However, his editor asked if he would mind dropping the M as it appeared too fussy The editor was also concerned about possible confusion with Rosie M Banks, a minor character in some of P.G Wodehouse s Jeeves novels who is a romantic novelist After his first three mainstream novels his publishers agreed to publish his first SF novel, Consider Phlebas To distinguish between the mainstream and SF novels, Banks suggested the return of the M , although at one stage he considered John B Macallan as his SF pseudonym, the name deriving from his favourite whiskies Johnnie Walker Black Label and The Macallan single malt.His latest book was a science fiction SF novel in the Culture series, called The Hydrogen Sonata, published in 2012.Author Iain M Banks revealed in April 2013 that he had late stage cancer He died the following June.The Scottish writer posted a message on his official website saying his next novel The Quarry, due to be published later this year , would be his last The Quarry was published in June 2013.

786 Comments

UPDATED REVIEW, 2nd read in 2015:even more ingenious the second time around. The Player of Games is taken to the Empire of Azad to play the greatest of games. the game is Azad is the Empire of Azad is the U.S. and the U.K. and all such toxic empires. in a civilized culture, all empires must fall. the game is feints and surprises and moves within moves; the game is the past that must be broken on the wheel of the future. Banks brings all of his customary elegance, intelligence, humor, and angry f [...]

Tis OfficialIain Banks can write his flesh cushion off. Okay, so for many of you that is not exactly breaking-news scrolling across the ticker, but I still thought it was worth repeating.I had previously read and loved The Wasp Factory, Banks' classic first novel which was a fascinating glimpse into the psychology of a very disturbed young man in serious need of a hug. I also really enjoyed Consider Phlebas, which is the first of the Culture novels. With Banks having two big wins under his belt, [...]

In 1938, Yasunari Kawabata, a future Nobel Prize winner, was assigned by the Mainichi newspaper to cover a Go match between Honinbo Shusai, the top player, and his challenger Kitani Minoru. Go has an importance in Japanese culture that is hard for a Westerner to understand, and was one of the four traditional arts that a Samurai had to excel in. The match was very even until Kitani played an unexpected move just before an adjournment; its only purpose was to force a response, giving him extra ti [...]

The first Culture novel, Consider Phlebas, did a lot of world-building heavy lifting from a Culture antagonistic POV. Having read that previously, this one is allowed to come in and really flesh out the world from a pro-Culture POV, which was really fun. Reading them in order gave a sort of a pros-and-cons approach to their philosophy. We get all of the negative things about the Culture first, and then we start to see the positives in this book.Big shocker, I really loved it. The complexities of [...]

This was my first book in Iain M. Banks sprawling Culture series. I have been reading a lot of sci-fi and fantasy lately, because for some reason that's all that sounds interesting to me, but I have to admit it is very annoying knowing that every book I pick up is the first in a _______. Usually that blank is "trilogy," except when it isn't (or it really isn't). And while there may be lots and lots of Culture books, they are all standalone stories with a beginning and an end. You can read one pu [...]

My third Culture book, a series of epic space opera about a post-scarcity human society in the far future. If you are not familiar with this series you may want to read this entry first and come back (or not, as you prefer). I love Consider Phlebas but I followed that up with fan favorite Use of Weapons and it nearly put me off the entire series. I don't want to go into why I do not like that book, if you are curious you can always find my review. Still, I love Consider Phlebas so much Use of W [...]

Starting my second read today, for a group read with a great group of people. and I've finished my second read.I'm much more impressed with the novel on the reread than I was the first time, so I've bumped my stars up from 4 to 5, and I don't think I'm being generous at all. It deserved it.My main problem with either reading was that I just didn't quite care with the whole overt premise of a game player. I'm a game player, myself, but reading about games that are completely foreign and strange w [...]

If I had to pick a favorite of Iain Bankswell, I haven't read them all yet, and anyway I couldn't pick, because each one I read becomes a favorite for a different reason. This one is a fascinating study of a complex character, set in an insanely well-drawn world. If you're a gamer you will definitely appreciate this book on another level, so pick it up!

This is the second Culture book I've read. The first was Excession, which was decidedly not the book to start with. I couldn't make heads nor tails of it. Of course, the second one I ended up picking up wasn't the first book in the series either, but at least it was the second. And much more accessible. Whew!Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.In the meantime, you can read the entire review [...]

Use of Weapons was far superior, in plot and characterization. Player of Games offered no surprises especially if you have read other Culture novels. The plot twist is reminiscent of Ender's Game, and is alluded to in the very first sentence. The central game is never described, and therefore too vague of a concept to care about. Any exposition about the human condition, racism, and sexism were poorly entwined into the book, and did not fit naturally into the plot.

Well played Mr Banks. Well played.I'm struggling to find the words to express my awe in the wake of finishing this book. I feel much as I'd imagine a wizened game player would watching true masters dance across the board. Unable to do so myself, but completely transfixed by the beauty and depth of their movements. I don't think I can recommend this highly enough. It isn't necessary to have read Consider Phlebas which is the first book in the Culture series. I've read half of it and had to stop t [...]

A very satisfying read for me and a worthwhile homage to a modern master of science fiction whom we lost this year. I enjoyed his first foray in this genre, “Consider Phlebas”, many years ago, so it is fitting that I plug a big gap in my reading history by taking on this 1988 landmark set in the same fictional scenario of a far-future society called the Culture. In the Culture, all basic human needs are taken care of through technology, there is no war or crime, and its peoples are free to p [...]

[I am removing my reviews as I do not want to support .]You are playing a game. In adjournment you are offered a cast iron safe opportunity to cheat. It won’t affect the outcome of the game, you are going to win anyway. But it may change how you win. So what do you do?For the rest, here:alittleteaalittlechat.wordpres

The Player of Games: A game so complex it mirrors the society around itOriginally posted at Fantasy LiteratureThe Player of Games (1988) is the second published book in the well-known Culture series featuring the post-scarcity utopian machine-human galactic empire known as the Culture. Once again Iain M. Banks adroitly chooses to focus on the interactions of the Culture with a non-Culture society, this time the more primitive empire of Azad. The Azadian society is centered around an incredibly c [...]

So it has been a really long time since I have read the first book in Iain Banks's Culture series, Consider Phlebas. But that's just fine because the books stories are independent of each other and merely take place in the same shared universe. In this case it is the far future in a technologically advanced post-scarcity human society. Well, I say human, but it is actually operated and organized by highly advanced artificial intelligences. Everything is wonderful and and safe and people self-act [...]

Ahoy there mateys! Several years ago, I was lamenting that there were no standalones that were somehow intertwined in one universe or world. Me brain is usually a sieve and lots of time in-between books in trilogies and such means that I lose details and sometimes have to start the series over. I wanted the effect of extreme world building with a tied-up story in each book. The First Mate suggested the Culture “series” in which every book is set in the same universe but all can be read as st [...]

When someone who rarely reads science-fiction says that a particular book is light on the SF aspect which could be read by anybody (even those who don’t like SF) I always groan inwardly (Only if some of my dependable friends who read SF regularly tell me that even though a particular SF book is light on the science aspect but it's good, I give it a try). Because for me, the "light" often means that the author is trying to hide his/her own weaker grasp of science from his/her readers. In fact, [...]

So much of what I love about the writing of Iain M. Banks is on display in The Player of Games that it could be my favourite of his novels (if not for Use of Weapons or The Wasp Factory or Canal Dreams or Inversions and who knows how many of the ones I haven't read yet?). Maybe I am wrong here, but I have a hard time thinking of other authors who can turn seemingly simple ideas into complex ideas with a burst of imagination that makes the simple idea seem unique and rare -- all without the alien [...]

This is the second Culture novel I've read, after Consider Phlebas. Some reviewers have likened The Player Of Games to Ender's Game(Orson Scott Card), but I'm not sure I agree. There is a 'game' element in both books, obviously (even the titles suggest that), but that was where the similarities ended for me. Many people have also been harsh in their criticism of Consider Phlebas, stating that The Player Of Games is by far the better of the two. Well, perhaps, but I will say that Phlebas was more [...]

My first Banks experience. It was OK. Some cool concepts, writing wasn't awful, the left-wing space utopia was fun, the plot had some twists. But but but.Banks, though he seems like a cosmopolitan guy who's aware of the tropes he's using and their limitations, still commits the basic sin that makes so much science fiction so much less enjoyable to me than it could be. The sin: blandness. Blandness of writing, characterization, worldbuilding, humor -- everything. The problem, and it's not one wit [...]

An unsophisticated obsessive game player gets caught up in much larger games than he's aware of.This book is split into four parts, but the last is a small coda on the rest of the book. The first part deals with an introduction to the Culture and the main character who is fairly unlikable to start with. He's vain, obsessive and self-absorbed, and also easily manipulated. He's shown to have enduring friendships in the first section, but it's not immediately clear why anyone would spend time with [...]

"The story starts with a battle that is not a battle, and ends with a game that is not a game."In the post-scarcity society of the Culture, men and machines live with the opportunity to do anything or nothing, to travel the universe in the great Culture ships with their infinitely complex Minds, to revel in idleness, to choose any subject and pursue it with singleminded zeal. Jernau Gurgeh chose games. He spends his life leaning, playing, and above all, winning, games from all the varied societi [...]

A mediocre novel by a good writer. I would give it 2.5 stars if Icould.The Player of Games is about a man who has devoted his life togames. He plays games, studies games, writes articles about games, and well, that's about it. It's all about games for him.Alas, the Player is not a very interesting character to write a novelaround. His monomania is dull, and the games are never describedexcept in the vaguest terms.The Player's competitive spirit, cunning, and intelligence seems to bewoefully miss [...]

Not only was 'The Player of Games' my first taste of Iain M Bank's Culture, it was also the first adult science fiction story that I ever read. Because of this, I feel that this novel influenced my life profoundly and it is always the first to come to mind if I'm asked to recommend a good book.The wit makes this book very easy to ease in to. The Utopian society of the Culture is beautiful and diverse, seeming both alien and familiar to us in equal measure. The opening sections introduce us to th [...]

This year there were three novels about games I'd planned to read, where it's all about The Game which is a mirror of life, the reason for living, an entity which transcends life itself, in each. With this novel my self-made trilogy comes to an end, and fortunately they all met, if not surpassed, my high expectations.I'm a gamer myself - I've loved chess since childhood, always enjoyed video games (owning a PS1, PS2, PS3, Wii, Wii U), playing sports, and in the last couple of years, board games [...]

First, let me say how much I want to live in The Culture! Where even some of the machine drones go bird watching! I really enjoyed Consider Phelbas earlier this year and I liked The Player of Games even more.Jernau Morat Gurgeh (Gurgeh to most people) is well known in The Culture for his game playing abilities—there isn’t a game of strategy that he doesn’t excel at and he’s spent his life either playing the games or writing about them (and other game players). This is totally foreign to [...]

Best sci fi I've read so far. I don't read sci fi a lot so I'm not exactly an expert. A big reason why is the emphasis on technology/aliens rather than story. That's not the case with this book and this series. I'll definitely be reading the whole series. Great characters, original premise, simply written with some good twists.

Full Review at Tenacious Reader: tenaciousreader/2015/0Gurgeh is the ultimate player of games on his planet. He lives in The Culture, in which humans and technology have come together to offer what sounds like a type of utopian society. People generally don’t have to work, as technology handles everything for them. There seems to be no crime, and when there is it is punishable by having a companion droid tag along with you forever as punishment. Now I did wonder, after you get one of these, wh [...]